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In the matter of the returning Wayne Rooney, it was hard to know who offered
the bigger hostage to fortune: Roy Hodgson, who raised the tough precedent
of Pelé in the build-up to the match, or the sportswear brand that filled
half the commercial break before the kick-off on ITV last night with a
close-up of Rooney’s brooding face, culminating in the appearance of the
slogan, “My time is now”. Either way, in the ninth minute, Clive Tyldesley
in the commentary box was noting Rooney’s “rusty” touch, at which point the
Mexico 1970 analogies and sonorous cross-promotions for sportswear were